“You have a low tire,” a friend of mine pointed out just before my family left church to head home. Sure enough, it needed air. So I stopped by a gas station and pumped it up. The next morning I looked at the wheel and now it was completely flat. I took it in to a tire dealer and they removed a screw from the tire and fixed it. I left the shop with that “oh-good-I-don’t-have-to-worry-about-that-anymore” feeling.

The next morning I happened to look at the tire before getting in the car and noticed it was completely flat again. “I thought they fixed it!” I mused as I drove back to the tire shop. A different mechanic pulled the wheel off and found a nail in the tire. After fixing it again at “no cost” he said, “Let us know if there is anything else you need.” I mumbled to myself, “Hopefully nothing else for awhile!”

I don’t think someone is purposely setting nails and screws out for me to run over. I’m not much into conspiracy theories. I think life is sometimes bumpy and there are days when you just have to pull a few more nails and screws out of the tread of your experience. We get one thing “fixed” and are surprised to find something else broken.

Lifetime of Growth

The Christian’s experience is a lifetime of growth. We know that everyday there are learning experiences and every trial can teach us something about ourselves that needs changing. King David wasn’t afraid (most of the time) to look at his own heart for nails and screws that needed to be pulled out. He wrote, “Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me, and know my anxieties; and see if there is any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting” (Psalm 139:23, 24).

What would you think if someone said, “I don’t care if there are nails in my tire, I’m busy and I have places to go. I’m going to ignore the problem and get on with my life!” Ridiculous! It’s a quick way to completely destroy your tire and wheel. You couldn’t travel very far in that condition. Yet, how many of us want to avoid glitches we need to face.

Solomon has words for those who want to ignore flat tires that need fixing. “He who covers his sins will not prosper, but whoever confesses and forsakes them will have mercy” (Proverbs 28:13). There are things in life that should not be ignored. My flat tire reminds me to not cover sin in my life. And should I wake up tomorrow to find the tire flat once more, I’ll just have to take care of it!